Railway signaling.



L. M. BRAGEWELL. -RAILWAY SIGNALING. APPLIOATION FILED APB. 29.1907.

91 0,454. Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

LEONARD M. BRAOEWELL, SEWAL, IOWA.

RAILWAY SIGNALING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Application filed April 29, 1907. Serial No. 370,758.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD W. BRACE- WELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sewal, in the county of Wayne and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a railway signaling device of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, that can be maintained at a minimum of expense, and that will be ready for use at all times, so arranged that an operator at a station may if desired, signal'to a train that has passed the station where the operator is located, and may impart to the engineer of said train any information desired by means of a pre-determined signal, to thereby aid in avoiding wrecks in cases where trains have passed a station without receiving proper orders.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The entire apparatus embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings.

I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the dynamo, or other source of electrical su ply.

11 incicates a service wire extended from the dynamo in opposite directions from the station, said line wire being unconnected with the ground.

Arranged parallel with the service wire 11, between each two stations of the system, is a return wire 12 running to a switch 13, which is grounded at 14. Between the wires 11 and 12 is a number of electric lights connected with said wires in parallel, the alternate ones of said electric lights being preferably provided with red globes 15, the other ones are preferably white.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown four switches, each one designed to be located at a station. The switches are indicated respectively as A, B, C, and D. The switch marked B is shown connected to a return wire 12 to the right of the station containing said switch B, so that the lights between the stations B andC are turned on as indicated in the drawings. The other switches are all open, and hence the lights are not turned on.

Between the stations A and B, I have shown a return wire 16 connected with the service wire 11, and having lights connected therewith in series, thus showing the modified form of the invention. If the switch marked A is closed, then the current from the service wire 11 may pass through the service wire 16 to the ground, and the lights between the stations A and B will be turned on.

In practical use, it is obvious that the expense of running the system will be comparatively slight, because normally there is no load upon the dynamo, and it can be run with very slight power, and yet will be ready at all times for use. Assuming that a train had passed station B going toward station C, and that the operator at station B became aware of an obstruction on the track between stations B and 0, he would then turn the switch at station B in such manner as to light the lamps between stations B and C, and the engineer of the train upon observing the lights, would then stop his train in time to avoid accident.

Any information which it is desired to impart to the engineer of the moving train may be done by means of this signal system, by series of pre-determined signals, which the operator may give by manipulating the switches.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, therefore is,

An electric railway signaling device, comprising a source of electrical supply, a service wire connected to the source of electrical supply and designed to be extended along the side of a railway track, a series of return wires, each paralleling the service wire throughout a portion of its length, a grounded switch at the end of each return wire, and electric signaling lamps arranged between the parallel portions of the service and return wires, said parts being so arranged that the switch at either end of any one of the return wires may be closed to thereby complete a either of the adjacent return Wires to be circuit from the service Wire through the signal lamps and through the grounded Wire, and the said grounded Wires at the adjacent ends of the return Wires being arranged adjacent to each other so that an operator may cause the electric lamps connected with lighted.

LEONARD M. BRACEWELL.

Witnesses N. J. DAVIs, MINNIE DAVIS. 

